Twice and Thrice: Truth is Amazing, No?
by Charlemagne Gryffis
Summary: The long-awaited sequel to Stumbling Truth: Hera's found Percy, but will he slip away again or return to her?


Maybe it was selfish that she wanted him back. Maybe it wasn't. But she waited.

Hades said he had chosen reincarnation almost immediately, that Percy had someone waiting for him. Everyone wanted to know who this someone was, but the only person other than Hera to know, Aphrodite, for once kept her mouth shut even when threatened with Tartarus. Her unusually solemn face had been one of great gossip.

Hera waited though. If he had chosen reincarnation, he would have to grow up before she would even deem him ready to be in her presence, let alone be her lover. Not that he would remember her anyway. Reincarnation was a tough deal, and all had changed with his death. None could say that Percy hadn't changed them, and if Hera became a little more violent and arrogant than she had for the past decade or so, no-one said anything.

Zeus became insufferable though. Now she didn't spend so much time in the mortal world, his eyes were back on her. It was bad enough they produced Hephaestus, let alone Ares. People thought those Hephaestus was simply her child, and Ares Zeus'. It made her internally snort. There was no such thing as Parthenogenesis.

Thoughts of Hephaestus rose in her mind unbidden. He was so like his father, it was disgusting. He was arrogant, wife-cheating bastard – he had tried to rape Athena, for Chaos' sake! His own sister! It was just like Zeus – he was her younger brother, after all. It was the same with them, except he didn't actually manage to do the deed due to his drunkenness. Like father, like son, though it seemed that Hephaestus was even more pathetic.

Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. She growled, scaring the young nymphs in the garden as she walked. Guilt blossomed, but she pushed it away. They were just nymphs.

In the back of her mind, her conscience, which sounded oddly like Percy, prodded. _I wouldn't like that. I cared for others._ But Percy was dead. _Doesn't mean you have to be mean_. He chided. She just couldn't handle it. She wanted to go back, to just go back and ignore his demand to stop. She should have made him a god, if only so he could be with her.

But he didn't want that. He didn't want to live forever. He hadn't wanted to become like the others, arrogant and too powerful for his own good.

Hera sat down on a bench, mentally exhausted. Shutting her eyes, she looked through the eyes of her copies. Wedding, wedding, family gathering, wedding – it went on, but she persevered. Eventually, one caught her attention.

She disappeared, merging with her copy as the wedding went on. She looked to the bride and groom – Jacqueline Lerner and Peter James – and listened to the ceremony. It was average, with all the traditional religious words and prayers.

But what her attention was the two toddlers fidgeting in the front row. They were total opposites, one boy with white-blonde hair and the other boy with inky-black locks, the blonde's skin was pale while the other boy's was tan – the list went on. The only things they shared were their sea-green eyes and the matching daffodils decorating their person. They had one each on their lapel, but the black-haired boys' one was crumpled and half-dead.

The reason they caught her attention though, was because of the matching gold tridents on their wrists, barely visible. Two children of Poseidon and a Goddess in the same room would _not_ end well.

Turning her head slightly, she looked around and met eyes with Mrs Dodds, aka Alecto. She sent a mental message to the Fury.

"_Why are you here, monster of Hades?_"

Alecto's eye twitched. "_You know why. The demigods-"_

"_This is a wedding! You are in my domain!_" She mentally snarled, keeping her face impassive as vows were exchanged. "_Leave, before I point out to the security that you are staring at the children like a paedophile and have you thrown out so I can knife you._"

Alecto visibly sneered, gaining her an odd look from the old man next to her.

"_I assure you, your highness, I am not here to kill them. Merely to see if they are whom Lord Hades thinks, and I can say that they are._"

Hera's brow drew together for a millisecond, before she smiled and clapped as the couple kissed. "_Who?_"

Alecto smirked, also clapping. "_Why, Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan of course._"

Her heart leapt to her throat and she glanced at the toddlers, before looking back, only to find Alecto had disappeared.

She had found him.

* * *

She kept an eye on each boy as they grew up. More than once, she intervened – much to the chagrin of the Fates. She saved Kaden and Jonah – Luke and Percy – from the fire that killed their parents, or in Jonah's case, foster-parents. It was interesting to find out Jacqueline had adopted Percy's reincarnated form.

In any case, she intervened. The fire, when they were to be adopted by a paedophile, and when the orphanage went to send them to another orphanage on the other side of the country by air. As sons of Poseidon, it wouldn't go down well with Zeus and neither reincarnated boy would get the chance to be reincarnated again at nine years old.

They recognized her each time, of course. It was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because they knew she'd never hurt them, but a curse because if they saw her, they knew something bad was about to happen. Reading Kaden's diaries – because of course, Percy still had the worst dyslexia on the planet, and Luke had the drive of an Athena-child to actually bother writing – she found out they saw her as an angel, and had christened her by different names over the years. When they were young children, she was Aunty to Kaden and Mommy to Jonah; when they were around ten, she was Angel; when they were teens, she was a variety of names including Grace, Jean, Sally, Rachel and Annabeth; and when they were young adults, they simply called her The Woman.

Both went to Camp Half-Blood after running away at twelve. Hades stayed quiet on their identities, and she was silently grateful for that. They both survived their teens, and moved on with their lives. Kaden became a firefighter, and Jonah a Marine Biologist, working in an aquarium. They came to Olympus every Winter Solstice, no exceptions, but she stayed far out of their way. They didn't need to know that she'd been watching out for them.

So maybe it was why she didn't interfere when Jonah got married. But that didn't mean she wasn't there.

* * *

Hera looked up, watching as the sunlight filtered through the glass, as they kissed. She clapped along with the guests before looking back to 'Jo'. He smiled brightly at Sadie, and Hera couldn't help but wince as her heart pained. _He used to look at me like that._ Her subconscious whispered the words jealously. _Used to…_

Standing, she slipped away, moving to the back of the conservatory as they moved to mingle. She watched the guests, losing sight of Jonah a few seconds after. She flet something wet slide down her face, and went to wipe the tear away when a calloused hand wiped it away for her.

"Don't cry, Hera."

She gasped as he spoke, her head whipping to the side to look at Jonah- _no_, she thought, as she saw his sea-green eyes. _Percy._

Percy smiled at her sadly. "You know, they said three times the charm. I swear now, next life I'll be yours, even if I'm a pitiful mortal." He lifted his champagne, clinking it against her own glass half-heartedly before downing it, kissing her cheek.

"You'll see me again in another life, and I'll love you even more. Trust me." Then he disappeared back into the crowd, leaving her broken heart to rise and fill with hope.

She had never stopped trusting him – and she wouldn't stop now.

So, shutting her eyes, Hera disappeared in a flash of unseen gold light to Olympus.

All she had to do was wait.

* * *

Percy opened his eyes as he felt the rest of his memories reassert themselves. Looking around, he found himself in the DOA Recording Studio. Pushing past the other shades, he fished out the waiting drachma in his pocket and flipped it to Charon.

"Hey Charon."

The god looked up and raised an eyebrow. "And you are?"

He grinned, showing his faded Trident tattoo. "Percy Jackson and Jonah James, son of Poseidon."

Charon's jaw dropped, before he threw his newspaper up into the air, scrambling around before hitting a big golden button. An alarm sounded, and a few seconds later, Nico was standing in the Studio.

"Hey, Nico!" Percy wrapped an arm around him, thumping his back. "How've you been?"

Nico stared at him. "I'm a God, and you're _dead_."

Percy frowned. "Not for long. I want to be reincarnated again, but with my memories."

Nico's face became guarded. "You know that can't happen-" He looked around. "Let's talk beside the River."

He grabbed his wrist and shadow-travelled them to stand beside the Lethe. Percy shivered at remembering his trips into it, both when he was alive and when he was being reincarnated.

"You can't be reincarnated with your memories. To be reincarnated, you have to be taken down the Lethe to Oblivion, where your soul is remodelled and taken out into the Living World."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I know, but isn't there another way? Can't you drop me into Oblivion using shadow-travel?"

Nico looked uneasy. "Perce, what's waiting for you in the Isle of the Blessed. Your mom's waiting in Elysium."

Percy looked down. "I know, but I'm not aiming for the Isle. Someone's waiting for me – that someone being a Goddess. In my last life, I remembered after I got married to someone else."

Nico cringed. "That must have been awkward. So who is it?"

Percy licked his lips. "Get me to Oblivion first. Then ask Aphrodite – she'll tell you if you tell her that I've said its fine."

The dark-haired boy scowled before muttering to himself, starting to pace. Percy watched him for a while, before Nico stopped and clicked his fingers. Bringing his fingers to his lips, he whistled loudly, making Percy blink before a large familiar hellhound bounded out of the shadows.

"Mrs O'Leary!" He cried, before running forward as the hellhound barked. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in her fur for a second before kissing her and stepping back, looking to Nico, who motioned to the incredibly large dog.

"She can take you to Oblivion, and with my Blessing she'll be reincarnated too as a normal dog. It would be a one-time thing though, and she'd never become a hellhound again unless cursed by an immortal. You'll find her eventually – souls or in this case soul and Blessed hellhound, stay together when falling into Oblivion together."

Mrs O'Leary whined, prompting Percy to stroke her fine fur as he nodded, using a rock to push himself onto her.

"Good. I'll see you in a few years then, di Angelo."

Nico saluted lazily as he leant against a shadow. "Good luck Perce. Don't lose your memories."

Percy rolled his eyes before whispering to Mrs O'Leary. She barked before running into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

* * *

Hera sat in her seat, bored. Zeus was shouting at a mortal who'd made their way up to Olympus somehow, with a dog at his side. When he addressed her, she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

He grinned suddenly, brown eyes flashing. "I told you to trust me the last time I saw you."

Hera stared at him, taking in his form. He looked completely different, with a short figure with totally different proportions. He had thick features, and a walrus moustache that looked ridiculous on him as he tipped his bowler hat. She snorted in laughter as she realized he looked like a Victorian banker.

"You couldn't have worn a monocle too?" She grinned, making him stick out his tongue at her.

"It's not my fault Oblivion messed up my entire body-shape – look at me!" He said, waving at his body. "I'm fat too! I'll have to go for another reincarnation if it gets any worse." His dog yipped happily, making him scowl at it. "Shut up, Mrs O'Leary!"

Hera bit her lip. "Are you sure you haven't subconsciously used the Mist to hide yourself from everyone, including yourself?"

He scowled at her. "Shut up, Hera." He muttered, making her glare at him.

Aphrodite tittered. "You've let yourself go, Perseus." Mouths dropped.

He sniffed, standing up straight with a wrinkled lip, looking the perfect picture of an incompetent, annoyed banker.

"Well why don't you fix me then, if you're so annoyed?"

The blonde brightened. "That's a brilliant idea!" She popped up out of her seat, bounding over as she shrank, Percy paling drastically. He tried to turn, running, but she caught his shoulder, turning him back before she clapped her hands.

At once, he shimmered. His form seemed to drip away as he shot up, clothes being replaced with a pair of shorts, blue t-shirt and flip-flops. Muscles developed and hair grew out of his skull, falling in short black waves around his head as his brown eyes turned green. Pale skin tanned before his features changed to match the ones of his first life.

Looking down at himself, he raised an eyebrow.

"Right…I'm back to my old body. Is it permanent?" He inquired, making Aphrodite nod absentmindedly as she changed smaller things. He went to speak but a squeak came out as hid hadns went to his shorts.

"What the fuck, Aphrodite!"

Her pink eyes twinkled mischievously. "I would have thought you'd want to please your _true love_, Percy."

He glared, cheeks a bright pink. "I'm going to throttle you…"

She waved him off, changing his muscular definition as she did. "Of course you are. You'd throttle a poor, defenceless blonde who can't even use a sword."

His eyes hardened. "You are far from poor, you can change your hair-colour, and I've seen you fighting with fans in the competitions in Japan. They love you there, you know?"

Unexpectedly, her own cheeks tinged pink. "They don't that much, they just really like my fans…"

He smiled at her own embarrassment before giving her a short hug. "Thank-you. Now could you do me one more favour?"

She nodded. He pointed at Mrs O'Leary.

"Curse her to hellhound-ness again."

The Goddess shrugged before snapping her fingers, making the dog squirm before she started to grow at a rapid rate, becoming her former size a few seconds later.

Zeus suddenly coughed, making Aphrodite slink back to her seat as Percy looked to his uncle.

"Perseus Jackson." He ground out. "Please explain your…ability, to get onto Olympus while being a mortal in this life."

Percy cringed. "Well…um, well I did know of its existence before…and maybe I convinced Pegasus to give me and Mrs O'Leary a lift."

Zeus growled before giving him a tongue lashing about being a stupid mortal, former-demigod and all-round pain. Percy took it with a lot of cringes, pained winces as minor charges of electricity hit him, and impetuous pouts at some unfair criticism.

When the King of Olympus finished, he spoke up lightly.

"It's not nice to shout, y'know."

Hera hit her head on the back of her throne.

* * *

And so their affair began again.


End file.
